


'Cause They Just Can't Stop

by crookshanks11



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Episode: s06e08 Let's Kill Hitler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 19:02:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4576137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crookshanks11/pseuds/crookshanks11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amy considers her relationship with River after learning that she was Mels all along. The Doctor gets a glimpse of the misery that the Ponds have been going through since Demon's Run.</p>
            </blockquote>





	'Cause They Just Can't Stop

“Doctor?”

Sliding out from underneath the console, the Doctor lifted his goggles and saw a messy-haired Amy standing before him.

“Ah, hello, Pond. I was just rewiring the TARDIS’s internal data, did you know that that’s been the reason for the slow internet connection? You see, it was very funny, I actually found some strawberry jam in the – hold on, it’s two a.m. in vortex time! What’re you doing up?”

“I can’t sleep,” Amy said blankly, plopping down on the jumpseat.

“If you want, there’s some bluish fluid over in the kitchen fridge with the label ‘sleepy juice’. I picked it up from Alpha Tirom 9 last winter, I’m not quite sure if it’s supposed to make you sleep, but it worked last time I tried it.” The Doctor took the towel that was hanging off his shoulder and began to rub his goggles clean. “I do, however, warn you that it gives your skin a metallic tint.”

Amy smiled briefly. “No, thanks. I’m not sure that’ll help.”

He looked up. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “It’s just…everything that happened today…it’s a lot to take in.”

“I’d expect so. You just found out that your childhood best friend is your adult daughter who was raised as a psychopath to kill me. As days go, that’s one you’re never going to forget,” he threw the towel over his shoulder again. When he looked back at Amy, tears were shining in her eyes.

“I…I didn’t realize until now…I lost my best friend…” Amy said in a shaky voice.

The Doctor sat down next to her. “Hey, of course you didn’t,” he said softly, lifting her chin. “You have River, and I’m sure she’d still want to visit you as much as you do her.”

“It’s not the same, though, is it?”

He put his hand down. “I suppose not.”

“I was just thinking about all the daft things we did together,” Amy gave a watery laugh. “We were always the troublemakers at school. Mels was the worst, though. One time she duct-taped the door to the principal’s office shut. It took the teachers hours to get it off. We were eight,” at this the Doctor chuckled. “Rory would always try to keep her in check. Both of us, really.

“But what she said, in Hitler’s office, about us ‘raising’ her…I don’t think that’s true. Rory acted ‘fatherly’, sure, but that’s just his personality. I told her off a few times, but mainly for the really dumb things like stealing a bus. All I really did was stir up trouble. What does that make me?”

The Doctor smiled slightly. “Being a parent isn’t all about discipline. You gave her happiness, Amy. And you were someone that was always there for her.”

“I guess,” Amy shrugged. “But it doesn’t help the fact that she never had real parents growing up. She had us, but we were just as young and stupid as she was. Did you know, Mels shifted from foster family to foster family every few months? In between she’d stay at whatever orphanage would take her until someone else would. No one wanted her. It’s funny, because right now I want her more than anything,” Amy’s voice cracked. “I’m being stupid, sorry.”

“No you’re not. You’re being human,” he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

A sound of footsteps from the hallway floated into the room. Amy hastily began wiping away her tears.

Rory entered in the console room archway, belting his dressing gown and looking very tired. “Amy, there you are. Why aren’t you in bed?”

“Why aren’t you?” she replied.

Rory looked down at his feet. “I…couldn’t sleep.”

“Me neither.”

He approached Amy and the Doctor. “Are you alright?”

“No,” Amy sniffed and smiled solemnly. “I broke the record. Sorry, I know we almost made it to two weeks –”

“Come here,” Rory spread his arms out and Amy walked into his warm embrace. She started to weep. Rory rubbed her back, whispering words of comfort. When they finally pulled apart, Rory brushed the remaining tears off her cheeks with his thumbs. She replied with a small grin and a nod.

The Doctor watched the exchange closely and somehow got the impression that this was a common practice between the two of them. He eventually cleared his throat. “What ‘record’?” he asked softly.

Suddenly remembering the Doctor’s presence, the Ponds both blushed this time and glanced at each other.

“It’s silly, really,” Rory began slowly. “It’s sort of this…thing we’ve come up with…we count how many days that we…go without crying,” he flushed an even deeper shade of pink, “…and it’s become a bit of a game where we try to set a record. We were almost at two weeks.”

The Doctor swore he could've felt his hearts splitting. He knew they had gone through pain and grief, but he tried not to think too much about it. This, however, made their suffering all the more real to him.

“It’s no big deal,” Amy added quickly when she saw the Doctor’s expression.

“I’m…so sorry,” was all the Doctor could manage as he folded his hands.

“I won’t have you blaming yourself,” Amy scolded.

They were silent for a minute or two. “I’ll just…leave you two to...talk…” he awkwardly began to back out of the room, not wanting to intrude in on a very personal moment.

Amy and Rory turned their attention from him and buried their heads back into each other’s shoulders, softly whispering. The Doctor could hear Amy’s quiet crying – barely audible. Almost silent.

_“One little girl crying. So?”_

_“Crying silently. I mean children cry because they want attention. 'Cause they're hurt or afraid. When they cry silently it's 'cause they just can't stop._ ”

The Doctor stooped in the archway and took a breath. “It’s not a bad thing, you know. Crying.”

Amy and Rory broke apart at the sound of his voice.

“You both have been through so much. Too much. It’s not fair,” he continued. “You’re both too young to have…to have lost so much. What else can your bodies do to cope but cry?”

Rory held his wife tighter and gave the Doctor a nod.

“Goodnight.” The Doctor left the room, leaving them to ponder his words.

He walked to the library and sat down in the most comfortable armchair, then put his head in his hands. His conversation with Amy from so long ago ran played in his head like a film once more.

_“One little girl crying. So?”_

He shook his head.

_“So is this how it works, Doctor? You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?”_

In that moment, his little Amelia Pond crying was more than enough of a reason to interfere in the affairs of other people or planets. To give her what she and Rory want more than anything. To get back Melody.

But what broke him was the knowledge that he never could.

_“If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind, you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry.”_

Unless, of course, there was no other choice.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this about a year ago and posted it on LiveJournal. It got a lot of attention so I thought I'd post it here, too. This is the first fanfiction I've written that I think can be considered decent writing, haha. Anyway, comments and criticisms are always appreciated!


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